thoughts on food, culture, and community

Friday Photo: Troegs firkin tapping at Al’s Pizza and Subs, Enola

Troegs sales representative Jon Hoey

Imagine going out to dinner one evening and noticing a miniature beer keg resting on the bar. As you watch, a gruff-looking man (because of course he’d have to be gruff) approaches the keg, raises a massive wooden mallet, asks the crowd for a countdown, then drives a spigot into the keg’s side with a spray of foam. Once the applause dies down, this man will probably explain that he just “tapped the firkin,” or prepared the keg for serving. A firkin is a traditional 10 gallon, 72-pint specialty keg that is filled with beer and conditioned with ingredients ranging from hops to spices to add an extra dimension of flavor.